Improvement in hemp-brakes



PATENTED FEB. 3, 1852.

L. S. GHIGHBSTER.

HEMP BRAKE.

a SHEETS-SHEET 1.

m! ucmms PETERS co. PHOTO-LYING wuumovou. a. c.

S. GHIOHESTER,

HEMP BRA PATENTBD FEB. 3, 1852.

s SHBETSSHBBT I I I I I the figures. I The object of my invention is to thoroughly spring-pressure so loosely asto permit slip- UN T D STATES PATENT ()FFICE -LEWIS s. OHIOHESTER, or BBooKLYm' NEw YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN H,E"M:P;BRAKES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 8,700, dated February 3,1852.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be itzknown that I, LEWIS S. GiIIoH Es'rER,

of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Machine for Breaking, Cleaning, and

Softening- Flax and Hemp or other like Fibrous Materials, and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description bf the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making .part

- of this specification, in .which- "Figure l is a sideelevation; Fig. 2-, a plan; Figs; 3 and 4, longitudinal vertical sections taken at the lines A a, and B b, Fig. 2; and

- Fig. 5, a longitudinal section of one of the cylinders.

The same letters indicate like parts in all break flax or hemp or other fibrous material and separatethe woody parts from the fibers and the fibers from each other by one single but continuous operation,-and to "effect this' by a mechanical operation in which the material shall be grasped and held at two'difl'erent points and -onopposite sides, and held by ping without undue or injurious strain on the fibers, and yet so firm-1y as to permit the two.

surfaces that grasp it at one point to slide back" and forth nearly at right angles to the. line of motion of thematerial, and by the side of other surfaces that grasp it atanother point,

and at the. same time have the graspingsurfaces to move along withthe materialthat other sur faces may in succession grasp it'at different pointsalong the length of the mass until the whole mass'is passed through and'other masses, in succession, the object being to produce on the material-tube broken and cleaned a me .chanical action resembling that which would.

be produced if a piece of the material were grasped at one point by the thumb and finger of one hand and at a'short distance therefrom by the thumb {and finger of' the other hand,-

' and then moving the two hands in opposite directions until the material befbent in two places nearly at right angles, and then, without drawing the hands apart, m'cwilig the two back and forth in opposite directions, so asto' .crush intonninute particles the woody part and other impurities that adhere to and com nect the fibers; and to eflect this purpose the nature of my invention consists 111 combining together two cylinders .or rollers geared together, so as to rotate with equal" velocities,

and in opposite directions, which cylinders have their peripheries composed of fixed rods extending from end to end and parallel with each other, andhaving spaces between them, in which are fitted radial plates that are made to slide in and out radially with a rapid vi-' bratory'motionto a determined distance beyond and within the fixed rods, and the said cylinders being so 'gearedthat in their rotation the rods. and sliding plates of one shall come opposite'tothose of the other, to grasp and carry forwardthe material, or in having one or more cylinders or rollers, as above,

and working with another roller or rollers made with fixed projecting plates instead of the sliding plates, and so geared that in the rotation of the several 'rollers" or cylinders the fixed projecting plates of the one shall come opposite to and grasp the material to be broken "or cleaned on theedge of the sliding plates .of the other and force it in between the parallel rodsl And the nature .of my invention also consists in combining springs with the'said sliding or vibrating plates for the.

purpose of forcing the -'plates outward from the center of each cylinder, so that in grasping the material they shall be self-adapting and avoid undue strain on the fibers when under. the action of the vibratory motion. 'By this Tine-ans, as the two cylinders rotate, themate- ,rial is carriedgthrough between them and grasped at diflerent points between the fixed.

rods by the movable plates of the two cylinders, and when thus held between themovable plates of thetwo' cylinders by the action of the cams and springs theyare vibrated rapidly in and out, which. has the effect to break and pulverize the woody parts of the material and to crimp and rub the fibers, and thus efi'ectually remove fronr them foreign matter and separate them from each'other.

In the accompanying drawings, a represents the-frame, which'may be varied at pleasure; and hi) the two breaking and cleaning cylinders or rollers properly mounted on parallel shafts or, which are geared together by two ,c'og-wheelad d, so as to turn in opposite di; rectionswith equal velocities. One of the cog-wheels, d, engages a cog-wheel, e, on the driving-shaft f, to communicate the required the periphery. I sides. To the heads are [secured round rods is delivered from the cylinders.

motion to the two cylinders from some first mover. As the two cylinders are constructed in like manner, the description of one will be suflieient.

On the shaft 0 there are two headsg q,with

radial slots h'extending from about the. middle of the radius to within a short distance of The grooves have parallel z, extending from one head to the other in 'lines parallel with the axis and. at such distances apart as to leave spaces between them equal or nearly equal to their diameter; and in the spaces between. the rods are inserted radial plates j,-which.play freely between -them, the ends of the said plates being fitted to slide in the radial slots in the twoheads and projecting for ashort distance outside of the heads. The outer edges of these plates are slightly rounded, and the ends that 'play' in the radial slots are cut down from the outer edge, so that their outer edges can be made to project beyond the rods t to a distance about equal to the diameter of the'rods, more or less.

Between the two heads, and attached to the shaft at proper distance apart, are two disks, 70

k, of vulcanized india-rubber, on which the. inner edges of the plates rest, and which tend bytheir elastic force to keep the plates out as far as they are permitted to go, and which, however, permit them to be pushed in The two cylinders thus constructed are mounted and geared so that in their rotation the rods v and plates of one will come opposite to the corresponding rods and plates of the other, and at such a distance apart that a mass of the materialproperly spread out will pass freely between the plates of the two cylinders. The springs that act on the plates'of the upper cylinder should be of greater tensive force than those on the lower cylinder, and sufficiently so to force in the plates of the lower cylinder when the position of theqcams will permit it, as hereinafter described. I At each end of the lower cylinder, b,is mounted a cam-wheehl, fitted to turn on its shaft, and

with the periphery formed with cam-like projections m within the inner edge 01 the platesj.

These cams are of such form as to permit the a cog-wheel, 0, that receivesfmotion from a cog-wheel, p, on the main driving-shaftf, so

that the canrwheels will turn .in the reverse direction of the cylinder and with a much greater velocity. in front, on which the material to be broken is placed by the operator, and from which the cylinders are supplied, and a receivingtable,

r, on the other side, onto 'which the material From the foregoing it will be seen that when There is a feeding-table, q,

the cylinders are moi'cd in the direction of the arrows and fibrous material is supplied to j them, it will be gripped by and between the corresponding plates of the two cylinders by a force depending on the tension of the springs and carried forward, and as it passes the bite of the two cylinders, and while between the fixed rods of the two cylinders, by the'action ofthe cam-whecls on the plates of the c linder Z) and the sprin s acting on thoscl of the other cylinder, Z). a rapid in-and-out motion is imparted to the plates, which has the effect of forcing the material alternately and with airapid motion against and by the fixed rods, first of one cylinder and then of the other, and thus to break the woody part of the material; and as itisgripped between the plates simply by the force of the springs,

and it is thus gripped at several parts of the I length, as the plates slide to carryit between two of the fixed rods of one of the cylinders it drags between the several plates to obtain the required length for the bend thus produ'ced, and after it hasbeen thus bent in one direction, and while it is still gripped at two or more points between two or more sets of plates, the plates vibrate in the opposite direction, which has the effect to crimple up and then oughly pulverize the woody parts, and at the same time to separate .the fibers from each other, and from foreign matter, and also to soften the fibers. The larger the cylinders the greater will be the number of plates act ing simultaneously on the material, and the greater the number of cam-projectionson the wheels and their velocity the greater will be the amount of breaking, crinkling, and rubbing action on the'fibers.

Instead of having the two cylinders or rollers made, as above described, one of them v may be made with fixed projecting plates in.- stead of the sliding plates, and the twoeylindcrs so geared that in then-rotation the fixed plates of the one shall grasp-the material to be broken or cleaned on and against'the edge of the sliding plates of the other, and thus force in the material between the rods.

Instead of two cylinders, two or more may be employed in succession, or several small cylinders may ,be arranged around the periphery of one large one, and in such case thelarge one may be made with sliding plates,and all of the, small ones in like manner, or with fixed projecting plates,- or some with sliding and others with fixed plates.

I do not wish to limit myself to the special construction of the parts and their arrangement, as these may be greatly varied Within the range ofthe principle or character of my invention. The cylinders, instead of being placed one above the other, maybe placed sideby side inthe same'horiz ontal plane.

The springs for forcing out the plates may be made of suitable material other than indiarubber and of any suitable form. The cams may be varied in number, shape, and position 'so long as they act on the plates to force them outward, and permit them win return to 'be forced inward by the plates of the other. cylinder to produce the peculiar vibratory action on the material from the one cylinder totthe other as the two cylinders rotate to carry the material forward; and, finally, the gearing may be varied at pleasure so long as the, two

cylinders are rotated with equal velocities ;to insure the proper relative position of the rods and plates of the two cylinders, "and the mo.-

tion of the cams in opposite direction to the. cylinder with which they are connected or in thesame direction with greater velocity; nor do I wish to beunder'stood as limiting myself to the use of cams to operate'th'e sliding plates of one cylinder, as cams may be used toroperate theplates of both, cylinders, or the plates of one cylinder maybe connected with the plates of the other cylinder by means of links with or without the interposition of springs, and thus operate the two sets by one set of cams; nor do I wish to limit myself to the use of both parts of my invention in one and the same machine, as it may operate without. the employment of springs in combination with the sliding plates, but it will produce a better effect with-the spring.

.plates of one cylinder shall come'opposite to 'those of the other cylinder, for the purpose and in the manner substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of springs, substantially as described, with the sliding'plates of the eylinder or cylinders, operated, substantially as herein described, for the purpose of rendering the plates self-adapting to the material introduced, and insure its being properly gripped and held, so as to admit of slipping without undue strain on the fibers, as described,

LEWIS S. CHICHESTER.

Witnesses:

XVI LIAM H. Brsnor, 31m anus B A M uni-zen. 

